What additions are you making to your 2020 firewooding arsenal?

[Jere39]

After over 30 years of cutting firewood here behind my house, I have an over abundance of brush piles from tops, limbs, and anything too soft, or pine that I will not process. Now that there are a few folks using my trails, I've gotten complaints about the unsightly piles (isn't marriage grand). So, I picked up a DR Chipper for home-owner service off CL. It is fitted with a road towing kit. May give it an inaugural run this afternoon.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I did the same, bought one off CraigsList, cleared an area (about an acre) of mostly poplar, a couple dead pines, and some sassafras, and two oaks. When I dropped the first couple poplars I started dragging and stacking brush. That clearly was not going to work. Renting a chipper meant dropping everything and having it stacked and ready to chip. That wasn't going to work either. Took a while, drop a couple trees, clean it up. Do a little more.
Mine was too old for the discharge chute offered for the newer ones. 18hp horizontally opposed. I ordered a knife kit from DR and some extra belts to have on hand. Expensive but they ship right out. I put them on, but it had been well maintained and probably didn't need them. Sold it when done.
Take a pair of lopers for limbing larger radial that don't fold back enough to get in the chute. It's still work but it works. No brush piles.

 

[Jere39]

@Sandhill Crane Your chipper looks very similar, including the lack of the chute deflector. I haven't pulled the access panels yet to look at the knife, but I should probably just order one so I can replace it and sharpen the one I pulled for next time. You're also pulling yours around like I do.



Now, all I need is that tracked Kobelco and I'd have myself a field day

 

[kevin j]

Nothing for me...haven't split wood for about 10 months. Did score about 6-8 Ash trees under power line in a little po-dunk town that have been topped and all branches removed already. Just need to drop the 10-12' tall main trunks, leave stumps, and can park and load right next to them on road. Not huge trees, but easy pickins.

Well now that I think about it, I do have my Grandpa's old tanden axle trailer converted from manure spreader, years ago that needs new floor. Have the boards already....it been sitting out behind machine shed for 4 years. I am sure will need some welding, lights, tires, and wheel bearings/seals. Maybe that's why it been sitting.....

does it still have the apron? I have long thought of removing the beaters, adding either gas engine or electric 12vdc drive and having an unloading trailer. my thought was mount the splitter on front corner, but won’t ever get to either idea.

 

[EastoutWest]

Mine's not as glamorous as new equipment but my plan for 2020 is to just improve my firewood stockpiling situation.

Every year I find myself chasing the weather to collect, split and stack. I'm very fortunate to have ~40 acres of forest for nearly limitless dead wood but I usually wait too long to start stockpiling and end up having to take the driest/best (usually locust) from the woods during the winter. So my stacks aren't very mixed up and I often have to re-stack a few times through the winter to get to the driest wood to burn.

So I'm going to fabricate several simple stack-ends for a better stacking situation and gather/split wood as I maintain the forest roads through Spring, Summer and Fall. I figure for the stack-ends, I'll just use some 3/4" square tubing (or scrap 1" angle iron) to make an "L" and reinforce the corners with triangular steel plate gussets. Also, maybe this site can offer some stacking hints for accessibility to the most-seasoned wood. I'll check the forums.

I guess there is one piece of equipment I aim to get; a winch for my Kawasaki mule to winch logs up and down slopes. a 2500 lb winch should do, right?

 

[svk]

Put two more saws into the arsenal today. Muffler modded 340 and a 142. The 142 engine is recently rebuilt and runs great but the muffler needs to be replaced.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I may have over extended myself, but they say you put your money where you make it.
Big overhead is my main concern though.
Stay small, keep it all!

 

[Gypo Logger]

After over 30 years of cutting firewood here behind my house, I have an over abundance of brush piles from tops, limbs, and anything too soft, or pine that I will not process. Now that there are a few folks using my trails, I've gotten complaints about the unsightly piles (isn't marriage grand). So, I picked up a DR Chipper for home-owner service off CL. It is fitted with a road towing kit. May give it an inaugural run this afternoon.

View attachment 800221

Here’s how to please the women.
Forget the chipping, make beaver dam size piles of all remnant useless vegetated matter and tell the wife you’re creating prime habitat for wild turkeys.
This ploy will free up more valuable time to do the things you want to do instead of humping brush.
Also in order to sweeten the pie, tell her you’ve become a birder and can charge for tours into your multiple purpose little microcosm.
Your now a caring husband of the forest as opposed to an insensitive timber terrorist.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Typo Logger: When we started in 1982 with an old Vogalzang box stove I hauled wood on a much smaller kids sled. I could get two rounds in it, but the trail needed to be pretty flat side to side, or it would roll over. Did that for many many years, for personal use, and actually enjoyed it in the winters. I did lots of light loads compared to your photo, usually within -200'-300' of the road.

 

[tla100]

does it still have the apron? I have long thought of removing the beaters, adding either gas engine or electric 12vdc drive and having an unloading trailer. my thought was mount the splitter on front corner, but won’t ever get to either idea.

Oh no, long been removed. It sits nice and low now....maybe 16" off ground

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Added this

 

[jrider]

I would love to add an assault of cheap immigrant labor

 

[T. Mainus]

I would love to add an assault of cheap immigrant labor

Same here. My new guy just put in his 2 weeks notice on Thursday. The search starts all over again.

 

[chucker]

Added this View attachment 800728 View attachment 800729

and you wont regret it on any day with a fast an light saw! keep it sharp and work it hard....

 

[milkie62]

I just added a Husky 55 Rancher in premo condition. Also adding a Wallenstein 3 pt winch, just put a 372 Husky on layaway since they aren't being made anymore. My ported 372 is awesome. A woodshed to get away from using tarps.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I just added a Husky 55 Rancher in premo condition. Also adding a Wallenstein 3 pt winch, just put a 372 Husky on layaway since they aren't being made anymore. My ported 372 is awesome. A woodshed to get away from using tarps.

You're gonna love that winch. If my Farmi got stolen today, I'd order a new one tomorrow.

 

[milkie62]

You're gonna love that winch. If my Farmi got stolen today, I'd order a new one tomorrow.

Which farmi do you have ?

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Which farmi do you have ?

I have a 351 with legs instead of a blade. It was the only one I found in over a year of checking Craigslist pretty frequently. At first I thought it might be a little small behind my Kubota, which is an mx4700. Frankly though, that winch will pull that tractor all over the place if you're not paying attention. I also thought that I'd miss the blade, and while I haven't used one with it, I don't mind the legs at all. I sometimes change the height for a different tractor, and it's nice that it's adjustable. Mine was a great bargain, and while it wasn't what I would have bought if I was buying new, I'm very happy with it.

 

[Be Stihl]

The light tower works good even with dirty lens. Still have to get the other 2 lights home but this Kubota diesel purrs nicely and throws some light. Even lights up the owb smoke in the dark. Wife even came outside to tell me I was crazy. I'm thinking of pointing it at my neighbours house. Goes about 30' high. Couple neighbours have said they want to rent it for corn season around the dryer.

No doubt that has a nice genset attached to that Kubota. If the lights aren’t needed it could be rewired for service voltage probably. How many Watts??


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[cantoo]

Be Stihl, says it's a 6.0 kilowatt with a 3 cylinder Kubota gasser on it, only 9 hp though. Burns 1/2 gal of fuel per hour. It should work fine for what I want and can run a conveyor too. I'm also looking for a 20 or 25 KV stand alone too for other projects.